


The Greats

by lavenderlotion



Category: Original Work
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Gen, Gender-Neutral Pronouns, Genderqueer Character, Magic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-22
Updated: 2019-03-22
Packaged: 2019-11-28 02:14:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,289
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18202121
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lavenderlotion/pseuds/lavenderlotion
Summary: “And who are you to think you are worthy of being within the mere presence of the Greats? Are you witch or wizard? Warrior or healer? Royal or peasant? What makes you think you may kneel before us? What do you present to us to think you are deserving of an audience?”“I wield magic.” Was their answer, and they kept their voice steady even as they kept their forehead pressed against their palms. “I offer you that magic, my very essence, in exchange for your help.”





	The Greats

The forest was silent as they approached. There was nothing but the sound of their footsteps, bare feet snapping twigs and laying softly over plush grass. The forest was gorgeous, the most beautiful thing they had ever seen. Magic swirled around them, the very essence of the forest rejoicing as they walked through the bush. Flowers bloomed in their wake, pulled up from their own magic bleeding with the forest’s.

They were looking for the greats, and they were going to find them. They had to. 

It was believed that the Greats no longer walked this world. The Greats had not been seen in centuries, but there were those who believed that they still lived, that they stayed in the woods and held council in a forest of great magic. Stories were told around campfires of the Greats power, a magic from the beginning of time that they wielded with great discretion. 

It was that power they were after. They walked through the forest, guided by the whispered tales that may very well be rumours, and hoped that they would find what they were looking for. The magic of the trees pulled them forward and guided them along, and they chose to listen to what the woods were telling them. It was magic that had raised them, and magic they would always trust in. 

Magic did not lead them wrong. The forest opened beautifully, trees parting into a pasture unlike anything they had ever seen before. It was otherworldly in its beauty. The forest, within this clearing, was  _ alive _ . Flowers danced without a breeze and birds sang brightly and a little stream flowed in lazy circles, filled with fish of colours they could not name, for they had never been seen before.

They took a deep breath as the magic of the clearing settled over their skin like a caress. It was the most magnificent thing they had ever felt, and it had their heart beating to a stop as they closed their eyes. Tilting their head back, they revelled in the light of the moon and how strong the pull was within this oasis. 

Ahead of them was a swirling mass of magic, made up of more power than they had ever felt in their lifetime. They had walked this earth for longer than they may have wanted and in those long years they had come across many things, but they had never come across something like this. They could not see what lie within for many minutes, but then the shifting mass slowly faded until they could see three figures sitting atop thrones of twisting branches and beautiful flowers and deep, shining crystals.

With their breath lost in their throat, they knelt to the ground. These beings were more than they ever could have imagined, were more than anything they had ever dreamed of, and they laid their palms against the cool grass and touched their forehead to the back of them. It was a respect that they were due, and even as they knelt they continued to revel in the expansive magic before them.

“It is an honour to be within your presence. I have heard many tales of you Greats but nothing could have spoken fairly of your magnificence,” they said lowly, murmuring the words and knowing the wind would bring them to ears of those before them. A silence was settled over the clearing that they did not wish to disturb, not when it was so heavy with possibility.

“And who are you to think you are worthy of being within the mere presence of the Greats? Are you witch or wizard? Warrior or healer? Royal or peasant? What makes you think you may kneel before us? What do you present to us to think you are deserving of an audience?” The voice was firm. The questions washed over them and sped up the beat of their heart. Despite preparing, they were not ready for the power before them.

“I wield magic.” Was their answer, and they kept their voice steady even as they kept their forehead pressed against their palms. “I offer you that magic, my very essence, in exchange for your help.”

“And what is it you need!” A new voice boomed, shaking the forest with its power. They closed their eyes against the power emanating from in front of them, and wrapped their own magic around themselves as though it were a heavy cloak. 

“My son. He has been taken from me and I have not been able to find him. I fear that it was a demon that stole him from our home, as when I first found him gone, I tasted the bitter acid of death on my tongue. I am familiar with that sort of magic, and I worry that retrieving my boy would be beyond my grasp.” Their heart pounded within their chest as they spoke, laying themselves bare. The familiar crushing of their chest under the weight of their sorrow was almost welcomed. They had been living with such a pain for the weeks it had taken them to travel here that now, surrounded by so much they did not know, it was a comfort. 

“This child you speak of is not yours! It is a monster!” The first voice turned from neutral to damning, and the words felt like a strike to their heart.

They closed their eyes and ignored the anger that rose within them. Their child may not be natural, but he was no monster, and they loved him as though he were from their own blood. “He is mine in my heart. I would ask that you not speak of him in such a way.” It hurt too much to hear him spoken about with ill. 

“You would ask, would you? You would ask quite a lot of the Greats. Why do you believe we owe you any of it?”

“I ask for respect, and a little help. I kneel before and offer you all that I am in exchange for the safety of my son. He is my whole heart, and I cannot continue without him.” 

“You wield magic but we do not know what you are. Are you man or woman?” asked another voice after a beat of silence, though their tone was gentle. 

The figure’s head lifted heavenward, and there was a heavy moment of silence before the figure stood. They drew their shoulders back, their robes billowing around them in the air the forest threw around them. It felt like a caress, and they closed their eyes to revel in it. They knew their own worth, and they let their magic bleed out of their skin and light up the surrounding forest. “I am neither. I am both. But I am still worthy. My magic is plentiful and my strength is mighty, but even I cannot see through to the depths of Hel. Help me, I beg.”

“You need not beg.”

“You are worthy.”

“We will help you.”

A crushing relief fell over them, and they sagged back to the ground, laying the forehead against the cool grass as the tension they had held in their bones leaked from them. It mattered not that they lived in a world tinted dark with sorrow and grief. They would not live in such a world for long, not with the help of the greats. 

They closed their eyes and let their magic grow inside their heart, flooding the space that their son held, and pushed the love they held into the magic they were wielding. With one last thought, they let it go, and knew they would not be empty when they had their son back to fill them whole. 

**Author's Note:**

> this was something that randomly came to be the other night. posting it here for lack of anything else to do with it. let me know what you think, i've never written anything original before


End file.
